We The Strangers
by Niah-Miyoki
Summary: Me and my friends have never been normal, neither as cats nor humans, but when we join this "RiverClan" I can't help but feel they know something we don't. Are they on to our true identities? Or are we involved in something big?
1. Friendships

A golden cat with black markings was perched on a small rock, the reeds around her swaying in the gentle newleaf breeze. She sighed wearily and watched the waves of the lake disturb the reflection of the half-moon.

"Leopardstar?" came a soft mew. Leopardstar turned to see a dark-gray she-cat push her way through the tall reeds.

"Mistyfoot," she addressed her deputy calmly. "Up late, aren't you?"

"I could say the same for you," Mistyfoot replied, but she seemed troubled. "Leopardstar, Willowpaw returned not long ago from the moonpool."

"A sign from StarClan?" Leopardstar asked anxiously, calling to mind the little gray medicine cat apprentice.

Mistyfoot nodded. "She said there would be strangers coming soon… but they won't be a threat. They'll help us somehow."

Leopardstar looked thoughtfully up at the moon. "We'll have to be ready then," she sighed.

* * *

I had seen the gray cat slinking around outside my house a week before, and right when I saw it's robin-egg blue eyes I began wondering if this cat wasn't a cat at all – he was like me. A neko. Or at least, that's what they'd call us in Japan. But we're in America. So I call myself a cat-person.

Darien was really tall, with black hair that seemed to be faded slightly to the dark gray of the cat's pelt. When I became a cat, my fur was the same redish chestnut color as my hair in human form. That was always constant. Every cat-person I knew – which was two people – kept their eye and hair color. Darien was quiet, and he tended to stay in the shadows. He was easily distracted, and he followed people with his gaze often. Many people were afraid of him, but I kept a close eye on him after I saw the cat. I noticed that Darien's grin was crooked, like he only pulled one side of his mouth up in a smile.

When I first saw the cat, I thought nothing of it. It was just a cat, with no relation to the quiet Darien at school. But I saw its eyes and I knew. I just had to find out for myself. So with my cat-knowledge I devised a plan to capture the Darien-kitty: putting out a dish of milk and waiting.

Having completely ignored my stupid history homework, I sat perched in a tree, watching the bowl below me. I was originally going to try staying in cat form, then decided against it. Sure enough, after the amount of time it would take Darien to get home and Change, the dark gray cat had approached the milk. Human he may have been, but a cat's instinct can sometimes become stronger than willpower.

I jumped out of the tree, not so far off the ground but still far enough to hurt a little. Darien-kitty leapt back with mewled fear, then looked at me. My suspicions were correct when the cat grinned at me. Cats don't grin. But this one did – and just by that awkward little crooked smile I knew who it was.

"Hello, Darien," I said, picking up the small gray cat. His soft blue eyes widened in shock, and he tried to break free from my grasp.

"Let me go!" he yowled out in cat-tongue.

"You can get out yourself," I whispered, trying to goad him to Change back. Darien locked his wide blue eyes on me, glaring slightly. He muttered some dark and vehement curses before I felt the Change occurring inside him. I released him and set him on the ground, and soon the fur on his back melted away into clothes. He grew up and back onto his two human legs. His ears and tail were the last to go.

"Pain in the-" he grumbled, then he looked at me as though he'd forgotten I was still there. "Cat," he addressed me. "How did you know?" he asked, looking very much so like a little kid who'd been caught in some criminal act.

"Animal instinct," I said seriously, tapping my head. "That- and you look the same as a cat as you do a human."

"Is there some hidden insult to that?" he asked humorously. I laughed softly. He wasn't such a bad guy. I'd really never talked to him… ever. And I don't think anyone else ever did either. That must've been why he was acting so self-conscious and reluctant to speak. "Are you one too?" he asked on a serious note.

I nodded. "Need proof or not?" I asked.

He smiled his crooked smile. "Sure," he said. I shrugged casually as the Change began, this time in me. It's a strange feeling I can't really describe… sort of like your whole body goes numb, but you don't really feel like you're in it at all. And then wham, you're a cat. And so their I stood in all my fluffy glory, ginger tail swishing happily.

"Behold," I announced in cat-tongue before Changing back. He was staring at me wide-eyed.

"I've never known anyone like me," he muttered.

"I can bring you to meet two others if you'd like," I offered, putting a hand on his shoulder – which was difficult, because his shoulder was near the top of my head.

Darien looked discomforted by the friendly gesture, but nodded anyway. "Um… sure, I'll meet them. Do they go to our school?"

"Jessie and Mikayla."

"No way. Really?" He laughed. "I wondered why you always hung out with those clowns."

Ignoring his interest in who I hang out with I decided to ask a more vague question. "Why were you at my house?" I asked, referring to his visit now and his other one a week back.

He looked away. "I thought you were like me," he admitted.

"If you were wrong I would be very offended. Didn't you suspect Jessie and Mikayla?"

He shook his head. "I guess they're better at hiding it-" He broke off. "Um, I'm sorry, I wasn't saying-"

"It's alright," I assured him, patting him on the back. "We'll talk about this all tomorrow. Meet me and the others by the flagpole at school tomorrow."

"Really?" He looked positively thrilled. "Oh, okay!" And he scampered off. Could that dude get any weirder?

* * *

"Catherine!" I heard Miki call cheerfully. I strode over to where she and the brown-haired boy Jessie where standing. Miki's blonde hair was put up in two ponytails as usual, and as childish as it was it looked good on her.

"History homework?" I asked hopefully. Jessie sighed and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper from his backpack. "Chicken scratch," I scolded him jokingly, then set to work copying some info on dead people.

"Hey, look who's coming." Miki's warning reminded me that I had forgotten to call either one and tell them about Darien. And sure enough the tall boy was awkwardly making his way toward us, gathered around the silver flagpole by the front office of the school. Kids were giving him plenty of distance, and it made me kinda mad. They were so rude to him when they didn't even know him.

"I met him yesterday," I whispered back, "and found out he's one of_ us_." The emphasis was enough for the meaning to get across to her and Jessie.

"Um…" Darien stood a little bit away from us, as though unsure if he should come closer. "Cat said…"

"Get over here," I said hastily. He looked around and took a few steps closer. Miki shot me an exasperated look. "You know Miki and Jessie, right?" He shook his head.

"Nice to meet you," Miki said politely, and hesitantly shook Darien's hand. Jessie just nodded with a quick "hi".

"So… you're all like me?" he asked, looking a little bit more relaxed.

"No, we're pretty short," Jessie joked.

"Yes," Miki assured him, giving Jessie a good-natured shove. Darien smiled slightly.

"Jessie, what the heck did you write for number seven?" I asked after a long and awkward pause.

"George Washington," Jessie snapped. "It isn't that hard to read!"

"It looks more like Porridge Wallashshshssomething," Darien remarked, leaning over my shoulder. Miki and I laughed loudly and Miki slapped Darien a high-five. Darien looked embarrassed, but laughed along.

"So do you live around here?" I asked, ignoring the death-glare that Jessie was giving us.

"Sorta," Darien replied hesitantly. "My… house is walking-distance from the school."

"Do you have any siblings?" Miki began to ask, but was cut off by the warning bell. Darien nodded to us and rushed off towards building five to our right.

"He's weird," Jessie said, but Miki and I suspected he was still mad about his handwriting.

"Can I steal this?" I asked, flapping his history homework. "I can finish it during lunch."

"I have history before that!" he complained.

"You can copy mine," Miki promised me.

"Yes, you've got better handwriting, but all your answers will be wrong!" Jessie laughed.

"At least they're _neat_," Miki sniffed, and I left the two to their usual quarreling.

At lunch I sat out in the courtyard with Miki and Jessie, and slightly to my surprise Darien was there too. "He's gunna let you copy his homework," Miki explained. Darien shrugged and handed me a piece of lined paper with neatly written sentences on them.

"Man, you're handwriting is better than Miki's!" I exclaimed. "Are they right, though?"

"Yah, I've got straight A's," Darien mumbled as though it had no meaning.

"Good enough," I replied, and set to work copying the words neatly written in cursive onto my own paper.

"So, have you known for very long?" Miki asked Darien, trying to get him to understand what she was talking about without really asking it.

"As long as I can remember," he sighed. "I never told anyone though. It feels good to know there are others like me."

"Do you stay in cat-form for long?" Jessie asked innocently, but I thought I heard some rudeness in his tone.

"Most of the time," he muttered, then clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Wouldn't you're parents miss you?" I asked, shocked. I know my mom wouldn't mind too much if I disappeared. She was always so busy, and I pretty much relied on my myself.

"I…" Darien shifted uncomfortably, then blurted, "I live by myself."

"Where are your parents?" Miki asked gently, her brown eyes shining in sympathy.

Darien shrugged slowly. "I remember living with them until I was around seven, then they just… disappeared."

"That's horrible!" I whispered, and he blushed slightly.

"I'm okay with it, though," he said hastily. "I live in the old abandoned farmhouse down by the lake."

"I heard there was some pack of wild animals that spooked their horses so much, the owners had to leave," Jessie said.

I looked up from my homework. "Was it a bear or something? Or foxes? There are lots of them around here."

"Smaller," Darien answered. "They think it was some little badgers."

"We have to check it out!" Miki squealed excitedly, taking a bite of her sandwich. It reminded me that Darien didn't have any lunch with him. Did he just not eat? There was no way he could've grown that tall without eating a lot.

Darien shifted unhappily, but shrugged. "If you guys want, I can bring you there after school sometime."

"I'm not doing anything after school," I put in, handing over Darien's homework once I was done copying it.

"Me neither," Jessie and Miki chorused. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn those two were twins. They even looked like siblings when they were cats, but then again cats aren't as easy to tell apart as people.

"Than it's decided!" I exclaimed.

Darien's shoulders drooped. "Alright," he sighed finally.

**AN:** Well, whaddaya think? Sorry this is a bit rushed. This will be, and For The Love of StarClan is, on hiatus.


	2. Fears

It wasn't cool that Darien had no family, but the fact that he took care of himself in a way I didn't, that was pretty cool. He lived his life outside of school as a cat, so he was much more agile as we scampered through the marshy landscape to his farm as cats.

"Are we almost there?" Miki complained. Me and Darien rolled our eyes. The brown tabby next to her, Jessie, snapped at her.

"Stop whining! We'll get there when we get there! If you're gunna be so wimpy that you can't run a few feet without complaining, go home!"

Miki coiled back, her blonde fur bristling. "Jeez, I was just asking!" she growled back. Those two fight like cats and dogs.. or cats and cats, I thought humorously.

"Right here Catherine," Darien muttered as a faded barn rose up over the reed-covered horizon.

"I can see it," I said blankly, "but you should tell those two."

"Guys!" Darien yowled, cutting through Jessie and Miki's – sorry about the bad pun – catfight.

"Are we there?" Miki asked brightly as though she and Jessie hadn't just been at each other's throats.

"Yes," Jessie said slowly, as though talking to a mentally retarded person. Miki didn't miss the insult, but she ignored him. Way to go, Miki.

"Let's check it out!" I called cheerfully, skipping up to it like an idiot. But who cared? I was a cat, and cats naturally like to explore. I sniffed around the old barn's entrance, and I caught a fresh scent of Darien, big no duh, but I smelled something stale.

"Not too long ago there were some cats," I informed him. Darien sighed.

"Oh jeez," he muttered, taking a quick sniff then crinkling his nose, a gesture that looked so funny for a cat that I giggled a little. "It's just some strays that wander around. They used to live here, and I guess they still come from time to time, but for the most part they just-" He suddenly stopped talking and flicked his ears in the direction of a lone haystack. It smelled moldy, so I didn't understand what it was he was looking for.

Then I heard it too. A tiny scurrying of paws against wood. "Mouse!" I whispered, but Darien was already stalking towards it, walking in such a light way even my highly-sensitive ears couldn't pick up a sound. He coiled back, and I couldn't help but observe how muscular, and yet so perfectly lean, he was. Then with one graceful leap he landed his paws on the mouse, and it didn't move.

"Amazing!" I cried. Darien shrugged – another funny gesture – then picked the mouse up in his mouth. He padded up to us, and Miki began babbling about how cool it was.

"You have to teach us!" she gushed.

"Sure," he said, "then I won't have to catch so many for you guys."

"What do you mean?" Jessie started, but stopped short when Darien took a bite from the mouse. Miki and I squealed and Jessie yelled "Dude!"

Darien looked up casually, licking his muzzle. "Did you want some?" he asked.

"No! Ew, I can't believe you just… you could get rabies, or tetanus or something!" Miki made a gagging noise.

"Hairball?" I laughed. Miki shook herself, as though clearing something away from her pelt.

"Ugh, that was gross!" Jessie grumbled.

Darien watched us without any emotion on his face… but then again, I can't read a cat's face very well. "Don't diss it 'till you try it," was all he said. But then I heard a noise from outside, and I guess Miki heard it too.

"Guys!" she hissed, and we all looked up to the barn's entrance. Two cats crept up to the open door and peered in, their fur straight up.

"Who's there?" called a voice.

"Who are you?" Darien called back, leaping up, his fur bristling.

"Smokey and Floss," the larger cat announced, walking into the barn. I could see them clearer now. Smokey was a light gray cat, and the smaller one, who I assumed was Floss, was a pure shimmering white. "What're you doing in our barn?"

"You guys left it," Darien huffed, swishing his tail.

"You need to leave!" Floss piped up, and I could tell it was a girl. Or, she-cat, or whatever.

"Darien, let it be," I insisted, but something about Darien seemed different. His fur was almost standing on end. He was crouched in a defensive position and hissing slightly. It was like his cat genes were taking over his actions, so with some difficulty I managed to hit him upside the head with one of my paws.

"What was that for?" he demanded, trying his best to rub his head with a stubby forepaw. Sometimes being a cat was annoying.

"We'll be on our way," Miki insisted, but Smokey blocked her when she made for the door.

"You aren't one of them Clan cats, are yah?" he asked menacingly.

"Clan cats?" Jessie echoed, tilting his head in confusion.

"They obviously aren't, Smokey," Floss scolded gently, padding into the barn. "Those cats were terribly frightening. These look like pampered house cats. Well, except this one," she commented, stepping closer to Darien and narrowing her eyes like a drill sergeant. She gave him a quick up-and-down before nodding. "Where are you cats from?" she asked warmly.

"Um…" Was all we could say.

"We're new in… town- I mean, well, we aren't from here. We're just traveling." Miki attempted to smile and I tried to suppress a laugh. That would've confused the cats more.

"Travelers, eh?" Floss mewed, her blue eyes lighting up with interest. "I could never leave home. The forest is two dangerous, not to mention those nutty upwalkers." I guessed upwalkers meant humans. "Nutty"- so that's what cats think of us. "My sister went with those Clan cats," Floss said excitedly, as though it was a secret. "She wanted her kits to be safe from the upwalkers."

"That's enough, Floss," Smokey said aggressively, and his voice sounded somewhat pained. Maybe those were his kits that Floss's sister had taken with to this… Clan-thing. Sounded like a cat cult.

"What else do you know about the Clan cats?" Miki asked, intrigued. She bounced up in front of Floss, ignoring Smokey's hiss of protest. I checked to make sure Darien had relaxed, and to my relief, he had. Hm, I never really noticed how fit he seemed as a cat. I hardly noticed him at all. I bit my lip, something I normally did as a human, but as a cat the extra-sharp fangs in my mouth really hurt. I clamped my muzzle shut so as not to scream.

"There we a whole lot of 'em," Floss said dramatically, and Smokey sighed in annoyance. "Fierce they were, every last one of 'em. The poor dears were hungry, and so thin, but even still they looked as strong as ferocious as a badger." Badger? That's a riot. I couldn't wait to get away from these nutcases, but Smokey was still protectively in front of the door. I started to panic. Was Smokey planning on barring us in here and attacking?

"We need to go," I told the two barn cats, shoving Miki impatiently.

"I wanna hear about the Clan cats!" she protested, flattening her ears against her head.

"She's right," Jessie growled, shoving Miki as well. "Let's get out of here."

"And stay away," Smokey added.

"I don't intend to do _that_," Darien threw over his shoulder, and we exited the barn.

"I've never seen those cats before," Darien commented irately when we were all back to our human forms. Darien took off his large black jacket, revealing his long, tan, and slightly muscular, arms. I bit my lip again. He flipped it around, pulling it on over his chest.

"What are you…" Jessie started to ask, but Darien had already gone back into the barn. Jessie looked at me and mouthed something like "crazy" when a great yowling came from the barn. We all looked over to see Darien, holding Smokey and Floss, his jacket protecting his arms from their claws as they attempted to escape. He put them down on the ground and shooed them away gently with his foot. They hissed and scampered off towards the lake.

"I hope that's the last I see of them," Darien muttered, putting his jacket back on the right way. I was about to ask why he was wearing a jacket in the late spring-time, but I decided not to. I looked over at the setting sun and Miki excused herself, saying she had to catch a bus. Jessie just walked away silently.

"Well, see you later Darien," I said awkwardly.

Darien's face brightened and he smiled. "Yeah, see ya." He turned and walked back into the barn. As concerned as I was about him living in a barn and eating mice, I left for home.

The first thing I noticed when I got home was that my mother's car was in the driveway. With a shaky laugh I thought how unfamiliar it seemed, what with her always being at work until I was asleep. I opened the front door, which was unlocked, and announced that I was home. I didn't get an answer. "Mom?" I called, hearing a soft clanging coming from the kitchen. I entered the small kitchen to find my mom seated at the light brown table, leaning back against one of our green fabric-covered chairs, a beer bottle in her hand. I knew she would drink occasionally ever since she left my dad, but by her vacant expression I could tell she'd had much more today than usual.

"Hey mom," I said, trying to fake friendliness when I was in fact, very nervous. My mother gave me a quick, unfocused look before taking a last sip from her bottle and setting it down with a flourish.

"Can you get me another?" she slurred, her head nodding.

"I think you've had enough," I cautioned, taking the empty bottle from her hand.

She glared at me. "Get me another!" she barked. I backed away from this crazed woman who was the only family I had. What on earth had happened at work? She was completely drunk, her eyes bloodshot and her hair ruffled. She looked like some kind of serial killer. But I knew if she wasn't sober enough to be responsible, I had to be.

"N-no," I stammered. She gave me another maniacal stare and got up shakily. I flinched away, but she turned around and yanked open the fridge. I gasped when I saw how much beer she'd stocked in there. "Mom, how much did you buy? That had to cost a lot."

"Go away," she murmured threateningly. "I don't need you telling me what to do."

"Mom, you're drunk," I accused, putting a hand on her shoulder. Then she did something I never would've expected her to do – she swung her fist, enclosed around another beer bottle, and hit me on the side of the head. I yelled out and fell over, clutching my throbbing head and feeling a trickle of blood from where she'd hit me. I stared at the blood on my hand, then back at her, in horror. She was so drunk, she didn't know what she was doing. Panic was welling up inside of me. Would she try to hit me again? She was still glaring at me, panting heavily and absently opening her beer. What on earth was going on?

"Go away," she repeated loudly in a hostile tone. I would've pointed out that she was blocking the way to my room, but I would've undoubtedly gotten another hit to the head. She I hastily scrambled back out towards the front door and grabbed my backpack. I opened the door and threw myself onto the front porch, listening to the dead quiet around me. I shut the door as softly as I could, gripping the doorknob with a shaky hand. Tears were starting to streak down my face. My mom hadn't been this drunk before… in fact, she's always been sober. Whenever she was actually home she'd only have one bottle. Now… she was completely mad.

She left very early in the morning, but by the looks of how things were I guessed she wouldn't be sober before I went to bed. She might even have to bad of a hangover to go to work the next day, but I still needed a place to spend the night. I thought about going to Miki's house, but she was too far away, and I didn't have any money on me for the bus. Walking was out of the question, and my bike had two flat tires. My mother, who was never home, never had time to buy new ones. I still had no idea where Jessie lived, so that only left one option. Darien's barn.


	3. Nightmares

The walk from the house to Darien's barn wasn't very long, but because I had already walked that distance not a few minutes before and I was still hyperventilating, it was harder. I gripped the straps of my backpack tightly as I ascended another hill, cars zooming past down the busy highway. I looked under the overpass I was on and saw the traffic jam below. A car had apparently crashed into the street light and the road had to be closed, stranding many cars. There was a symphony of car horns and curse words. I shook my head and pulled my iPod out of the strap pocket, flipped it to Chop Suey! and tried to drown out the chaos below by turning the volume up all the way.

I looked up at the orange clouds streaked over the red sky. The sun was dipping behind the black silhouettes of the trees, shining cars dotted along the gray roads in the distance. My development had fallen behind me now, and I was entering the forest. There was an old trail forged long ago that had long been overgrown with weeds and a couple of baby trees. I had been a cat the last times I'd been down this trail, but with my backpack I'd have to stay human. My shoelace got caught on a fallen branch and I stumbled forward, my headphones falling off and dangling by the cord connected to my iPod. Once I'd finished having a heart attack I lifted my headphones up, then stopped. I turned my iPod off and the chorus of Paralyzer was cut short. The sounds of the birds twittering in the trees and the gentle brushing of the tree leaves in the wind was very relaxing. Not like the empty silence in my house when my mother wasn't home.

I tucked my iPod back into its pouch and enjoyed the calm serenity of the forest around me. It was no wonder Darien liked it here. There was even a pleasant breeze blowing, a nice relief from the normally hot sun. The faded red barn came into view, and I was suddenly very nervous. I started to turn back. What if he didn't let me stay? I mean, we'd only just met two days ago. I could hardly call us friends. But we were both cat-people, and we had to stick together. I turned towards the barn again and shakily stepped towards it as silently as possible. Darien said he was in his cat form most often, so I expected to see the large black cat curled up in a patch of hay when I looked through the crack in the doors, but instead I saw something much different. There, sure enough, was Darien. Without a shirt.

I bit my lip so hard that I thought I could taste blood, but my head was kinda fuzzy at the moment. His muscles were well sculpted and tanned. He said he spent most of his time as a cat – screw that, he probably had a weight set somewhere around back. And a tanning salon. He sat with such graceful posture that he could've been a model for one of those jeans commercials, perched on a hay bale with his back against the wall, completely relaxed and possible sleeping. I bashfully stepped away from the door and knocked a few times. "Hey Darien, it's Cat," I added. I heard him scuffling nervously with a little yell of "be right there." I waited, bouncing slightly on my heels as he undoubtedly was putting his shirt back on.

He was back in his black shirt when he opened the door for me. "What're you doing here?" he asked, holding his arm against the door as though blocking me from entering.

I inhaled sharply. What was I supposed to say? My mom was drunk and would've probably killed me if I stayed, so I was thinking I could spend the night here? I groped through my mind fro some valid excuse. "My mom's really stressed out. She's not really… herself. And I was wondering if I could stay here. For the night." I smiled pitifully. That wasn't a good enough excuse, but I didn't want to say she was drunk. Darien would think she was an alcoholic, which she never was. Darien tilted his head in confusion, looked at my forehead and opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but closed his mouth and nodded.

"Um, alright, fine," he mumbled, pushing the door open wider and dropping his arm.

"Thanks," I said, biting my lip again as I passed him.

"You can sleep in the house if you want," he stammered hastily as I started to drop my bag onto the ground.

"House?" I asked, turning back to him.

He laughed. "You didn't think this was all I lived in, did you?" I shrugged, embarrassed. "Here, I'll show you where it is," he said, suddenly sounding more comfortable.

Sure enough, attached to the other side of the barn was a small house, painted a quaint sky blue. It even had the white trim around the dusty windows. He opened the old wooden door with a loud creak, but it wasn't as musty inside as I expected. In fact, it looked just like any other house. There was a living room complete with three forest green couches in a neat sorta-square, a glass coffee table in the center. There was a cherry wood dresser with little decorative glass vases full of fresh flowers. White roses and daisies with baby's breath, I noticed. Through the hallway I could see a kitchen cupboard.

"This way," he laughed, snapping me back to reality. There was another door to my right, which he opened for me. I entered a master bedroom, the giant comforter on the bed covered with an intricate blue and gold design and gold tassels on the end. An ancient strawberry-colored armchair was backed against the sliding screen door, blinds drawn over the dusty glass. There was hardwood flooring underneath my feet.

"It's really nice," I commented.

"Um, thanks," Darien said with a quick, crooked grin. He probably wasn't use to having houseguests. I plopped my backpack on the bed, pulling out my homework. I held back a sigh. I hadn't even started my math homework, and I had nearly three pages of worksheets. I sat down, kicking my shoes off gently at the foot of the bed, and crossing my legs. I set the homework down on my lap, staring at it blankly with my pencil eraser in my mouth. I scanned problem one and could hardly process the first set of numbers. I looked up and saw that Darien was still at the doorway.

I didn't want to kick him out of the room, because technically it was his. So I sighed and asked "D'you think you could help me with this?"

"Oh, sure," he said, seeming to just remember where he was. I bit my lip again for no reason that I knew of. He sat down next to me, leaning over my homework and reading it quickly. I bit my lip harder, trying to stop myself from leaning away. Not that I didn't mind – he smelled very nice. Foresty, like pine trees. My heart was starting to have a spasm in my chest, but I couldn't back away. That would seem rude. I was glad he distracted me when he started to explain the steps to problem one, and I slowly remembered how to do math.

"I think I get it," I finally said after we'd gotten to problem five.

Darien turned to me and smiled. "That's good." I practically bit my lip off when I noticed we were so close. The bed rocked when he got up, and I nearly fell over in the direction he'd been sitting. Damnit, what was wrong with me? He left the room, much to my relief and disappointment. I nearly bit the eraser off of my pencil in irritation. I looked at my homework vacantly, realizing I hadn't really been paying attention to what he'd been saying.

After puzzling through my math homework, I decided to skip my reading log for the week again and turned in early. The sun had just set and the almost half moon rose eerily above the dark forest. I suddenly wanted to be home again, but remembering the crazed look in my mother's eyes made me feel a bit better about being where I was. I curled up in the unfamiliar bed, clutching one of the pillows to my chest. It was a really hot night, so I left the window open. A cool breeze would waft in every now and again, but other than that I couldn't stand the heat. I kicked the comforter off and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I checked my watch. It was nearly midnight.

I rolled onto my other side, facing out the windows. A noisy band of crickets had been screeching outside for a while, but it was pretty nice. The whole forest seemed nice. Wouldn't it be great if I could just live here? My mother would hardly miss me. She wasn't ever home, and when she was she acted like I wasn't there. And more recently…. I rubbed the sore spot on my forehead.

And I wouldn't have to live alone. Maybe I could stay here with Darien? Maybe Miki and Jessie could come. We could run away and join that Clan Floss had talked about. Right then anything seemed better than the way I lived.

I froze when I heard a clattering noise. The sound came from the living room outside the master bedroom, where I was. "Darien?" I asked shakily, getting up and slowly walking towards the door. I checked my watch again, but I couldn't see the time over the glare. I could hear my heart beating in my chest. Another noise came from the open window. I turned around and gasped. There was the dark figure of my mother, arm raised in the same position she'd had when I left, but instead of a bottle she clutched a knife, gleaming wickedly in the light. I screamed as loud as I could, my heart hammering in my chest. She was going to kill me! "Darien!" I screamed, trying to open the door, but something held it closed. I began to shake it as hard as I could, looking back to see my mother coming towards me with the knife. "Darien!"

"Cat!" I heard his voice muffled, as though on the other side of the door. I tried to find where his voice was coming from, but my mind was numb with fear. My mother was coming closer. My breathing became shallow and finally everything was black. Then I opened my eyes to find Darien shaking me awake back in the master bedroom. I shot up when I looked at the window, then looked around for my mother. My heart hadn't slowed done, and I still felt the fear fresh in my blood. I grabbed Darien's arm and started crying.

"I'm sorry," I managed to say. "I… just had a bad dream…"

Darien pushed me back gently and looked me in the eye, then his glance went up to my forehead again. I tried not to notice he wasn't wearing his shirt again. "You were yelling 'She has a knife'," Darien said, concerned. "You were telling whoever it was not to kill you."

"It's nothing," I muttered. "Just a dream."

He shook his head and touched the spot on my head where my mother had hit me with the beer bottle. I cried out and winced. "Who hit you?" he asked in a demanding way that made me have to answer.

"My mother was drunk," I started shakily. "I came home and found her car in the driveway. She doesn't normally drink that much, but today she was completely drunk. She told me to get her another beer, but when I told her no she hit me with her bottle." I took a ragged breath and fell silent, still staring at my clasped hands.

"So then you came here?" Darien asked, and I nodded. "She's never hit you before?"

"Never," I said quickly. "I've never seen her like that… she looked like a serial killer." I shuddered and closed my eyes, trying to block out the memory.

Darien leaned back. "And tonight in your dream she had a knife." I just barely nodded. We sat in silence for a while, listening to the play of noisy crickets from outside the window. I checked my watch. It was nearly three.

"I'll try to get some sleep," I sighed finally.

"I'll stay here if you want," he said. I looked at him questioningly and he laughed. "I'll stay as a cat if it makes you any more comfortable."

I thought it over. I didn't want to be alone, but the thought of Darien in human form in the same room as me made me a bit uneasy. Mostly because he was without a shirt, no matter how many times I tried not to notice. "I suppose that'll be okay." Him as a cat would be less distracting.

He nodded, and Changed into his cat form. The black cat padded up to my side and curled up on the pillow next to me. I put a shaky hand on his back, just so I could remember he was there. I closed my eyes, let out a soft breath, and fell asleep easily.

* * *

ht tp : / / niah - miyoki . deviant art . com/art/ Catherine - 84051592


	4. Affection

I woke up to the sun filtering into the master bedroom of Darien's house, and it took me a while to remember where I was. I sat up, the bed rocking and knocking over something black and fuzzy beside me.

"Darien!" I yelled, picking him up. Darien sighed – which was pretty funny for a cat. "I'm sorry, I kinda forgot you were there," I said, placing him back on the pillow.

"It's alright," he huffed in cat tongue, stretching out and yawning. "Now I won't be late for school." School.

"I need to use the bathroom," I said distractedly.

"First door on the left down the hallway," he meowed, still yawning. I got up off of the bed. This time Darien was ready for the swaying and jumped off as well. He was still Changing back into his human form when I walked out the door. I touched my forehead gingerly, feeling a dull throb of pain. I flipped the light on in the bathroom and looked into the mirror, stifling a gasp. There was a decent-sized bruise over my left eye, and no matter how often I rearranged my bangs they couldn't cover it. No wonder Darien had looked at my forehead. I couldn't go to school like this! When I left the bathroom I found Darien, in new clothes and thankfully a shirt, sitting on the armchair in the master bedroom.

"I don't think I can go to school today," I commented, brushing my bangs as best I could over the bruise.

"Are you going to go home?" he asked as I sat on the edge of the bed. I stopped and looked at my lap. Would my mother be okay? If she was, she'd probably have a pretty nasty hangover. And I'd have to pretend to be sick in order to avoid school. The worried thoughts buzzed around in my mind, blurring all other thought processes. In the end I came up with no conclusion.

"I don't know," I answered, folding my arms on my lap. "I'm really afraid."

After a short pause Darien spoke. "You could stay here with me."

I looked at him, arching one eyebrow. "Aren't you going to school?"

He turned his gaze to the bed's headboard, blushing slightly. "Well, I figured that you wouldn't want to be alone."

"Oh," was all I could say before I forgot how to breath. He was willing to stay here just because I was afraid to go home? That meant a whole day alone with him. I took a breath. "Alright, but I'll go back home after school's over, so my mom thinks I was at school." I hoped I could intercept the phone call the school sent notifying parents their child had been absent without an excuse. Maybe my mom would be drunk again and wouldn't care. Of course, if that was the case I wouldn't be able to stay home.

"Right." He smiled a quick crooked smile again and stood up. "Are you hungry? I could make you some breakfast."

I didn't want to impose, but if he insisted… "Could you make a fried egg?"

He smiled. "Sure! Wait here." Oh Lord, breakfast in bed. I nearly started giggling when he left the room. This was going to be a very good day.

I picked my backpack up off the floor, pulling out Twilight, the vampire romance novel Miki had forced on me. She had literally put it in my hands and ran off. Feeling compelled to read it after all the fuss I'd made about not being interested in vampires, I started to read and was hooked. Edward was so hot. In a way, his personality was a lot like Darien's. Except, Edward was a vampire.

I bit my lip to keep from squealing. Edward was so romantic. Although, he and Bella were rushing into a relationship pretty quick. They never really made it clear when they were going out, it was just like one chapter they weren't, the next they were. And now Edward was staying the night at Bella's without her dad knowing. Oh, wait… I had left my house and stayed at Darien's, so…. I shook the thought from my head and kept reading. The delicious smell of eggs started to waft into the room through the open door, soon followed by Darien.

"Thanks so much!" I gushed, taking the plate and fork and eating quickly. I never realized how much being scared to death took out of you. Darien sat in the armchair, watching me eat with a mixture of confusion and amusement. I had to stop myself from licking the salt off of the plate when I had finished. "That was seriously good," I said as he took the plate back. "You're an awesome chef."

"Well, I've had some practice," he laughed modestly. "I'll just go wash this off for you." He was so kind, and he hardly even knew me. I clutched Twilight to my chest tightly. Oh yes, it was going to be a _very_ good day.

After Darien had eaten his breakfast he volunteered to take me out to the lake. I was ecstatic. From what I'd heard the gigantic lake was beautiful, and it couldn't have been a better day to be outside. The sky was a crystal blue and not a single cloud was in sight. The air was warm and cool breezes were dancing about. The world itself seemed to be having a great day. Even still, Darien brought his jacket. We stood by the edge of the water, skipping stones and stepping into the water as far as we could.

"Next time I come here, I'll bring Miki and Jessie and we could all go swimming," I suggested.

Darien beamed. "That'd be fun."

I sat back down into the soft earth, picking up my water bottle and taking a long sip. I was starting to get tired, and it wasn't even noon. I kicked up a little water, and it accidentally splashed Darien, who cried in protest.

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed.

To my surprise, Darien laughed. "Not as sorry as you're gonna be," he said, getting up and kicking more water at me. I laughed and cupped my hand, collecting some water and throwing it at him. We splashed each other and laughed until we were both soaking wet. Since I was already wet I took off in a run and jumped into the lake. I surfaced and spit out a mouthful of water, laughing at Darien who stood dumbfounded at the water's edge.

"Here kitty," I called jokingly. "Not afraid of the water, are you?" Darien laughed and jumped in after me, sending a large spray of water at me. I stayed close to the lake's edge, only going as far as I could with my feet touching the ground, but Darien, being the giant that he was, could go out farther. Then he just started swimming around, diving under and surfacing by me just to get the water in my face. I could hardly laugh without getting water In my mouth.

Darien was an excellent swimmer. It was funny how even though we were part cat, we still loved the water. As a cat I was a pretty good swimmer. I wondered how well Darien swam as a cat. Ignoring my thoughts about cats and for the moment becoming a normal person, I pushed off of the sand back and started swimming into the deep water where Darien was diving. The water was a bit colder farther out, but it was refreshing. Summer was coming up soon, and now that it was almost two it was extremely hot. Darien's black hair was plastered against his head and covering his eyes when he surfaced again.

The water's surface became calm again once Darien stopped diving. I let myself float on my back, and Darien followed my example. We floated closer to each other and he waved at me. "Hola, neighbor," he said. I giggled and lost my balance, starting to sink into the water. I went back to swimming then, and Darien and I had a few races. I won three out of, like, ten, but I'm sure he'd let me win those few times.

After a while I dived down under the water, opening my eyes slowly before realizing the water was incredibly clear. The bottom of the lake was smooth and covered in shells, plants swaying in the current farther off. I could even see the shadow of a school of fish farther on. The water bent the sunlight with each wave, creating a beautiful underwater lightshow. I paddled up to the surface for some air. After taking a quick gasp of air I went under again, propelling myself farther under towards the bottom. I brushed up some sand, which swirled around in the water like fog. I looked back to see Darien gracefully jetting towards the coast.

I rose up to the surface when my lungs could no longer stand it and found Darien standing on the sand bank smiling. "I think we should get inside and get dry," he called to me. I hadn't realized how far away I'd gotten.

"Alright," I yelled back, dunking back under and pushing myself along the bottom of the lake. I scanned the floor as I swam, and my eye caught something. It was a shell, one of those spiraling shells that you could "listen" into and hear the ocean. It was huge, smooth and in one piece. I grabbed it 

hurriedly before I ran out of air and kicked up to the surface. I walked along the bank until I was completely out, my clothes waterlogged and making it harder to walk. I held the shell up. "Isn't it neat?"

"It sure is," Darien said, smiling. He smiled a lot. In fact, he'd smiled more today than I'd ever seen him smile before. I mean, I'd seen him around school, always by himself, watching his feet while he walked along to class. He sat on the opposite side of the classroom in my homeroom, never talking to anyone. He seemed so alone al the time. And now he was smiling and laughing and having such a good time, I couldn't help but get caught up in his cheery attitude.

"Aw man, I'll completely waterlogged," I observed with a laugh. I shivered as a breeze flew by. It was nice while I was dry, but now it was freezing. Darien looked at me thoughtfully, then picked up his jacket, which had been forgotten on the shore.

"Here, wear this," he insisted.

"Are you sure?" I asked, taking it slowly. He nodded with an infectious smile, which I caught as I put it on. It was really warm and smelled like the forest. Just like Darien. "I guess I should go home and get something dry," I said.

"You can borrow something of mine until you get home," Darien offered.

"Stop that, please," I laughed.

Darien tilted his head. "Stop what?"

I laughed again. "Being so nice to me."

Darien smiled unsurely. "Oh, um, okay… sorry?"

We both started laughing again. I pulled the jacket around me tighter as we neared the house. He directed me to his closet, where I picked out some clothes which were too small for him, but still a few sizes too big for me. "Ta da," I giggled as I came out of the bathroom, wearing his over-sized clothing. He laughed incredibly loud then, and he couldn't seem to stop. "Is it really that funny?" I tried to say in a pouty voice, but I was starting to laugh too. I had a baggy black t-shirt tucked – more like piled – into shorts that could've been pants for me. At least it wasn't too loose, but the collar of the shirt sunk and bit too low for my taste. I readjusted the shirt again to try pulling it up, but sank back down and I gave up.

I toweled off my hair in the bathroom while he waited outside for his turn. When I was sure my golden hair wouldn't be completely flat when it dried off, I left the bathroom open for Darien. He went in and almost immediately opened the door again, pushing out my pile of clothes. I laughed when I saw that my bra was on top of it all. I picked up my clothes and bundled them up in the towel, tucking the shell inside as well and stuffing the whole thing into my backpack. I glanced at my watch. It was almost five-thirty. I'd missed the time I had to go home, but right then I didn't care. Today had been one of the best days I'd ever had. I didn't want it to end, so I took off my watch and stuffed in unmercifully into my pack with my clothes.

When Darien had changed into dry clothes and dried off his hair we sat down at the dinner table and ate whatever snacks we could find in the pantry. Now that we were relaxed and sitting I decided we had some time to talk. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your parents?" I asked softly, looking absently at my granola bar.

I looked up into his silvery-blue eyes, and he nodded vaguely. I took a breath. "So, what was happening when they… disappeared?"

He took a bite out of his granola bar before answering. "My parents were both 'cat-people'," he started, "and they tried their best to fit in. They had regular jobs. We had a regular house in a nice neighborhood. But when I was seven, I'm guessing someone had found out about their… powers… and they sent FBI to our house." He closed his eyes. When he continued his voice was a bit shaky. "There were a couple police cars and some unmarked cars pulling up in our driveway. My mother told me to Change into a cat, go hide in my room and not move until they came back to get me."

I held my breath, knowing what was coming next. Poor little Darien. "They never came back," he muttered. "I waited until it was morning again, and I came out of my hiding spot. Then I heard noises outside my bedroom." I started. "I hid under my dresser, still as a cat, keeping as quiet as I could. The FBI agents were looking for me. They were all over the house for days, until they finally left. And so did I."

"How did you live my yourself all this time?" I asked in amazement. "I mean, doesn't the school need you to have some kind of legal guardian?"

Darien laughed without any humor. "Yeah, I gave them my parent's information, and try my best to stay away from any unnecessary parent-teacher stuff. The phone at my old house still works, there's just no one to answer it."

We both fell into an awkward silence. "What about you?" Darien asked unexpectedly, looking up at me. "What's up with your family? Have any siblings?"

"It's just me and my mom," I said quietly. "My dad was the cat-person. He taught me all about how to Change, and a little bit about why, but a few years ago my mom found out about his powers and left him. I've hidden who I was from my mom the whole time."

Darien nodded and we were silent again. I tried to start up some friendly conversation by talking about the latest episode of American Idol, and soon we were talking just like any friends would. I felt completely fine and relaxed. I checked my wrist to find the time, then remembered I'd taken my watch off. I looked out the window and gasped. "It's almost night! I'll need to get home!"

I started to get up, but Darien stopped me. "I want to show you something first."

We walked back to the lake, my backpack and all its contents on my back again. We reached the lake and I lost my breath. The lake had erupted into reds and yellows as the sun sank behind the black line of trees in the background. The sky behind me was a midnight blue, but rimming the large orange sun was a pink light of sky with black and orange streaked clouds. The waves of the lake washing against the shore, the birds cheeping and the crickets beginning their song blended together to make a beautiful, almost unreal evening.

"What do you think?" Darien asked, and I slowly came back to reality.

"It's beautiful," I murmured, still staring out at the lake. Then I felt Darien's hand grab mine gently and my mind went fuzzy altogether. I turned to look into his eyes, and he smiled. I smiled back as best I could as my heart went off in some crazy beat. The air around me started to feel a bit muggier, heavier, pushing me closer to Darien. I closed my eyes and leaned forward as he leaned down.

Then hostile yowling broke the peaceful moment, and three or four cats rushed out of the reeds, claws unsheathed and hissing as they sprang at us. Damn those stupid cats.

* * *

Drawing Cat is fun :3 I swear next drawing will be of Darien. Then all four of mah kitty-peeps.

ht tp : / / niah - miyoki . deviant art . com /art/ Morning - Musing - 84095625


	5. Amends

I jumped back in surprise. The cats were yowling and hissing as they stalked closer to us. If they had foam coming out of their mouths I'd have been convinced they were rabid. I could only make out a few real words in cat-tongue that all had to do with us leaving. The rest of their speech was just hissing.

Darien's grip on my hand tightened, and I could tell his cat genes were starting to flair up. This was his home, and these cats were trespassing. "You should go home," he muttered in my ear. "I'll see if I can take care of these cats."

I turned back to him quickly and hesitated, not wanting to leave. But I knew I really couldn't argue, so I just nodded. "Okay," I replied softly. He let go of my hand and I started to walk away awkwardly. "S-see you at school tomorrow," was all I could think of saying. After a few steps I heard a great commotion, and when I looked back Darien had apparently run off into the reeds to Change into a cat, the other cats not far behind.

I felt like running over and kicking those cats. They'd ruined everything. My blood felt like it was on fire as my shaky heart pumped it through my veins. I felt sort of embarrassed, mostly because those cats had interrupted. Everything was going so smoothly. But what would I have done if they hadn't shown up? I bit my lip hard. I could practically feel my face blushing. I really did like him. He was so nice and gentle, and I felt really happy when I was with him. I probably would've been willing to say that I loved him. But what would happen at school? Would everything go back to normal, or would something have changed between us?

I didn't even know why I had started crying, but the tears were rolling slowly down my cheek. Things were so complicated. I held the straps of my backpack, listening without much interest to the sounds of the approaching night. The lights on the overpass were dim and creepy as I walked along n the dark. What I wouldn't give to have someone with me, even Jessie. Or my mother. The tears started again, and my pace slowed. Would she be alright when I got back? If she was, what would I tell her? If she wasn't, where would I go? Darien might not want to keep me at his house another night. All the happiness from the day had vanished.

My house came into view, the light over the garage door illuminating the front of my mom's silver car. I checked to make sure the door was open. It wasn't.

"Mom?" I called, knocking on the door. There was no answer. "Mom?" I repeated, and just as I knocked the door swung open. I winced, expecting to me hit at any second, but when I opened my eyes I found my mother, her hair still a bit of a mess and her eyes puffy, standing there.

"Catherine, where have you been?" she sobbed, strangling me in a hug. "I was so worried." She pulled back and looked me in the eyes. "Your hair's wet," she observed, then she looked at my shirt. "Where on Earth did you get those clothes?" Cursing myself inwardly, I tried to find a reasonable excuse. Once again I came up with nothing.

"Why are you home so early?" I decided to skirt the questions with one of my own.

My mother's face fell even more. "I was laid off of work," she mumbled sadly.

I gasped. No wonder she was so depressed! "Why?" I asked incredulously.

My mom shrugged. "It's not that important," she said with a heavy sigh. Her eyes flew up to my forehead, and she reached out a shaky hand to brush away my bangs. She frowned with concern. "What happened to your head?"

I bit my lip to keep tears from streaming down. "What time is it?" I asked wearily, rubbing my eyes.

"You didn't answer any of my questions," she retorted impatiently, then sighed and looked at her watch. "It's only eight."

"I'll explain everything in the morning." That gave me all night to think of an excuse. "I'm really tired. I'm gonna head to bed."

Though my mother looked ready to protest, she let me inside. I trudged over to my room, dragging my backpack along behind me. Not bothering to turn the lights on when I got to my room, I 

threw my backpack unceremoniously into the chair by my computer. Then I remembered something. I opened my backpack quickly, pulling out various articles of clothing and the towel until I found it. It was the shell I'd picked up from the bottom of the lake. I ran my fingers over the smooth surface, turning it over in my hands and cleaning off the little bits of dirt still attached to it. I held it tightly, flopping over in my bed and staring at the wall. I tugged the pink covers up to my shoulders and tucked it under my chin. The towel lay draped over my feet, so I picked it up and held it in my hands along with the shell. I inhaled the foresty smell that reminded me of Darien. I could see his face perfectly in my mind, as I had when he was still leaning closer… and I fell asleep.

I had forgotten about my alarm, so I nearly fell out of my bed when the shrill screams of the alarm clock blared out at seven-thirty. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with one hand, still holding the shell and towel in the other. There was a dent in my arm where one of the spikes of the shell's top had pressed against my skin. I hit the Off button of my clock, silencing its cries. I looked out my window at my familiar street, my mom's car still in the driveway. And I still didn't have any excuses. Crap.

I hurriedly charged towards the bathroom for a quick shower. I made sure to use extra conditioner, because my slightly damp hair had completely died and hung down limply. I had the water on almost as hot as it went and didn't leave until the heat failed and the water turned frigid. Shivering, I pulled on a towel and scampered off to my room to get my clothes for the day. Once I was done, dressed, my hair blow-dried and brushed, I went to the kitchen for breakfast.

What I didn't expect to see was a warm breakfast waiting for me on the table. It looked like my mom had made pancakes, and they looked and smelled delicious. My mom was still at the stove cooking some for herself, so I went to the fridge to get some orange juice. I inspected the fridge carefully, and to my relief I found no beer bottles. Whatever happened to the beer that had been there didn't matter as long as my mom was sober. I grabbed the carton of orange juice and poured it into the waiting glass cup on the table. I cut my pancakes absently, pretending to be focusing on getting them as much absorbed with syrup as they could when my mother sat down. Crazy excuses began to buzz through my head, and not one of them sounded reasonable.

I could alter the truth a bit. I would obviously leave some stuff out, like staying the night and then the next day at a barn in the middle of the forest with a boy my mom didn't know, and he just happened to be a cat-person, like me. "So…" she said, and that was all she had to say.

"Do you remember this morning?" I asked. I saw her wince when I raised my eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She looked at the bruise on my forehead. "I did that, didn't I?" I nodded slowly. My mother suddenly started to cry, and I had no idea what to say. "I was just so depressed," she whimpered, dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. "I didn't even realize how much I'd had that night. I felt so horrible in the morning, but when I recovered I realized you should've been home from school… I started to panic, and I almost called the police. Catherine, I'm so sorry!" She got up out her chair and hugged me again, and this time I hugged her back. I couldn't keep that single tear from rolling down my cheek, and more followed until I was crying almost as hard as my mother.

"It's alright, mom," I said through sobs. After a while I finally was able to control myself, and we broke apart. I wiped my eyes furiously with my napkin.

"I'll patch up your forehead," she volunteered, and she left for the bathroom to retrieve the box of bandages. I was given a brief moment of peace. I looked without interest out the window at the cars driving by. I glanced at my wrist, then realized my watch wasn't there. In fact, when I'd been pulling my clothes out of my backpack I hadn't seen it. Was it at Darien's house? I was spared from further panic when my mother returned with the box of bandages.

After she'd cleaned the bruise with alcohol "just in case", she applied a giant patch-like bandage. At least now I could say to Miki and Jessie that I'd hit my head on something and had to go the doctor yesterday. But what would happen with Darien? I was interrupted from my thoughts yet again when my mother exclaimed "Oh! There's a new message!" I froze when she skipped over to the phone and pressed the playback button.

The automated voice announced that there was one new message. Then the voice of Ms. Brown, the school's receptionist, went into the familiar "your child, Catherine Croy, has been absent this day, blah, blah, blah" speech. On impulse I bit my lip. My mother turned to me after Ms. Brown wished us "a nice day" and the recording ended, the automated voice declaring the time of the call.

She was silent as she deleted the message and came back to the table, which made me the most nervous. "Cat," she said calmly, and I looked at her with the most innocent eyes I could muster, "you still haven't told me where you were yesterday."

"Miki's," I lied. "I went to school with her, and went to her house afterwards."

"Mm hmm." My mom propped her head on her hands. "If I call Miki's mom, she'll able to verify this?"

Okay, I seriously panicked. I was trapped in a corner. I couldn't change my story now, but I couldn't tell her the truth. But, it looked like I didn't have any other choice. "Have you heard of Darien Berkeley?" I was surprised I remembered his last name from roll-call in the morning.

My mom's eyebrows shot up. "Darien? That sounds like a boy."

I tried to keep my face from flushing. "Yes, he is a boy," I replied reluctantly.

Now my mom was serious. "You went home after school with a boy I've never heard about before? And you stayed there until nearly eight? Where were his parents?" My mom began assaulting me with more rapid-fire questions, and I could hardly keep up with them.

"Mom, we're just friends," I assured her, hoping that if she would ever believe one of my lies it'd be this one. Then an idea hit me. "He was tutoring me in math." Which was sorta true.

My mom arched an eyebrow suspiciously, then sighed. "Alright, fine, but next time please tell me before you do something like that." Something in her tone informed me she wasn't thoroughly convinced. "Would you like a ride to school?"

I was so surprised I couldn't answer right away. I'd been taking the downtown bus for as long as I could remember. "Sure!" I gushed, grinning. I sat in the passenger seat of her car and she drove me to school. I felt so proud when my mother called "Bye, sweetie! Have a nice day!"

"See you later!" I replied cheerily, and I turned around and entered the school.

I caught Miki and Jessie by the lockers, and they instantly jumped me with questions, mostly regarding my well-being and the bandage on my forehead. I told them that I'd hit my head on my mom's car door and had to go to the doctor, and luckily they bought it. I looked around before asking, "Hey, have you guys seen Darien?"

Then Miki gasped and screamed "Oh my God!" multiple times until Jessie yelled at her to shut up. "I'm sorry," she laughed, "but I just remembered! There 'd been a rumor going around school that you and Darien skipped school together."

"What?!" I yelled, and a few nearby people turned to look. I lowered my voice. "Who started it? Do you know?"

"Not a clue," Jessie said nonchalantly, almost annoyed. He was a guy, so naturally he didn't take rumors so seriously.

"If you don't care you can go," I huffed, and he grinned and walked away. I turned back to Miki. "So what do you know?"

"When Mrs. Barry was calling roll both you guys were absent, and I guess whoever saw us and Darien by the flagpole and was possibly in out homeroom must've thought something was going on between you two." She paused and looked at me strangely. "_Is_ there something going on between you two?"

Not expecting that question, I hesitated, and Miki's eyes grew wide. I found no way to answer it except, "I honestly don't know."

"What _really_ happened?" she asked excitedly, and I frowned. She rolled her eyes. "I won't tell anyone."

"Okay, but you swear. Not even to Jessie."

Miki sighed. "He's the last person I'd go to with a secret. Now go on!"

I decided to start from the beginning, when I got home to find my mother drunk. Miki started to look extremely worried until I assured her I was fine and my mom was sober now. I continued, telling her how I was trying to decide where to go before settling on Darien's barn. I left out the part about him being shirtless when I got there. Then I briefly skimmed over the rest of the day, then the nightmare I'd had and a quick summary of yesterday. I paused, unsure of whether or not to tell Miki that me and Darien had almost kissed.

"And when we got to the lake some crazy cats ambushed us," I finished. "He told me he'd talk with the cats, and I haven't been able to talk to him since."

Miki was still wide-eyed after I'd finished. She frowned. "Well, I haven't seen Darien yet today; maybe he's just late."

I almost said 'I hope so', but I bit my lip before the words came out. From what I'd told Miki I'd made it sound like me and Darien didn't have very strong feelings for each other. In fact, I wasn't even sure about Darien's feelings for me. But if he tried to kiss me I was pretty sure they were pretty strong.

The bell rang, signaling that there was five minutes before school officially started. Miki and I walked to our homeroom, and I tried to keep the conversation away from the past couple of days, but at the same time I was scanning the crowd of students for Darien.

Homeroom came and went, and still Darien didn't show up. I was starting to panic, biting my lip as hard as I could, not being able to focus during science. I kept looking out the window, as if Darien would walk by it. What if the cats had hurt him? What if he was laying by the side of the lake, dying? I stifled a cry, and the people around me looked at me cautiously until Mr. Trickett called for everyone's attention as he announced our homework.

I left science class completely miserable and exhausted from worry.

"Cat."

My heart fluttered. I looked up eagerly. There stood Darien, grinning his crooked grin and wearing his jacket again in the seventy degree weather. It took all my willpower not to run up and hug him. "How did things go?" I asked as casually as I could, but I let a smile pass over my face.

"I'll tell you and the others after school, alright?" he replied quietly. "I will tell you the cats weren't ones to talk." He pulled up his jacket sleeve and revealed multiple scratches on his arms. I winced. "Anyways, this is yours, right?" He held up my watch.

"Yes, that's mine! I was wondering where it went." I fastened it to my wrist with satisfaction.

"I found it by the edge of the lake," he said. "It must've fallen out of your backpack."

I nodded, then noticed that a bunch of people were staring at us. "Well, um, I need to get to math," I stammered.

"Alright," he said, flashing a smile. "See you later."

"See ya!" I called as I ran off to get my math binder from my locker.

And by the end of the day, much to my horror, it was considered common knowledge that Catherine Croy and Darien Berkeley were dating.

* * *

If you must look at my horrible drawing, please don't fullscreen it. It was more of a test because I still haven't settled on a hairstyle for Darien. I'll probably do another, better one later. But right now, next up is a group pic :3 I also started one of Darien and Cat ;D

ht tp : / / niah - miyoki . deviant art . com / art / Darien - 84208540


	6. Decisions

Miki, Jessie and Darien were already gathered by the flagpole after school. Darien and Jessie looked serious, which I didn't find unnatural, but Miki looked incredibly grim, which tipped me off that something was wrong. Darien managed a weak smile when I walked up to them, but I immediately asked what was wrong.

"I found this in my locker," Miki said, holding up a folded piece of lined paper. On the front was a big heart with the initials M. G. and J. S. in it. Mikayla Grundeman and Jessie Shaffer?

"Is it really that upsetting?" I asked, puzzled, but Miki gestured for me to open it, which I did. When I read the first line, I gasped.

"I know what you are," the letter read. It had been typed from a computer or typewriter or something, so I couldn't use handwriting to track down the sender. "I know about the others too. If I wanted to, I could tell the whole world what you freaks really are. Get lost." There was nothing but an X scrawled at the bottom.

"I don't think our buddy X is bluffing," Jessie said.

"But nobody knows about us, right?" I asked. They all shook their heads. "So, how would X know?"

"I'd rather not stick around to find out," Darien said gravely. "If anyone else finds out, especially the police…" He stopped and rubbed his head. I knew how devastating it would be for him if he was faced with them again.

"What did those cats say?" I tried to avoid the stressful conversation.

Darien lit up a little. "Remember those Clans Floss was talking about?"

"Oh, yes!" Miki blurted enthusiastically.

"Those cats by the lake, they were from one of those Clans. RiverClan, I think."

"If they were by a lake why weren't they called LakeClan?" Jessie asked.

"They weren't _from_ the lake," Darien replied. "They said their Clan had traveled over the high rocks or whatever, which I'm guessing is the mountains."

"That's pretty far. Those cats must be pretty tough," I observed.

Darien nodded. "Like I said, they were all teeth and claws until I finally convinced them to talk. I told them I was just wandering, and asked who they were. I only remember one of their names, I think it was something like Mistyfoot."

Jessie snorted. "What a stupid name."

"They were a patrol for their Clan," Darien continued. "Mistyfoot said she was the deputy, or second in command for the Clan."

"Like a vice president," Miki added.

"Who was the 'president' then?" I asked.

"Leopardstar," Darien answered after a pause. "I think. They didn't tell me a whole lot more, though. The basic, you know, get out, never come back thing."

I thought for a moment, biting my lip. "What if we stayed with them for a while?"

"What?" my fellow cat-people chorused.

"Think about it!" I urged, raising my hands. "We join their Clan for a bit, wait for this X person to back off, then we come back. If X comes back as well, we'll try to figure out who it is."

They did think about it. "It's actually not a bad idea," Jessie grumbled.

"I agree, but what about our parents?" Miki queried with concern.

"We'll have to leave them some kind of note," Jessie said.

I hesitated. "I think in mine I'll tell my mom what's really going on."

Miki grabbed my shoulders urgently. "Cat, we can't let anyone else know about us!" she hissed, and it surprised me.

I pushed her away. "If this X person tells everyone else what we are, no matter what we do, I'd rather have my mom hear it from me." Miki and I glowered at each other for a brief moment before she relaxed.

"Do what you want," she sighed.

"So are we all decided?" Darien asked. Everyone agreed.

My mom had said she'd be doing some job interviews when I came home from school, and promised to try to be home by six-thirty. I set to work writing my letter.

I picked up some blue floral-printed paper from a kit my mom had bought me a long time ago, complete with matching floral envelopes, stickers and make-your-own fortune tellers. I picked up a pen and sat at my desk, the pen hovering over the paper. I had to write this well in only a few minutes. We'd agreed to meet at Darien's barn at five, and it was nearly a half-hour trip to his house by foot.

"Dear Mom," I started, then paused before continuing. "Please don't be worried, I'll be back soon. I've been hiding something for a while, and I'm really sorry I didn't tell you a long time ago, but dad told me not to." I hoped mentioning dad didn't open any old wounds. "I know why you left him. It wasn't that you two were having problems with your marriage. It was because of-" I groped for the right words, "his ability. To turn into a cat. I can too. He told me never to tell you, but I thought I might as well tell you now.

"Remember Darien? He's like me, and so are Miki and Jessie." I hoped they wouldn't mind me putting their names in. "I'll be fine, but our secret's in jeopardy. Please don't tell anyone about this, and especially don't call the police. Until we're sure it's safe to come back, we'll be hiding. I love you and will miss you. See you soon. Catherine." I stopped a tear from falling onto the page, but some of the droplets smudged my signature. Not unrecognizable, but still a bit smudged. Other than that I found the letter okay. I stuffed it into the envelope and wrote "MOM" as big as I could, gently placing the letter on the kitchen table. Then, wiping more tears away, I ran out the front door and towards Darien's barn.

I was surprised that I was the first one there, but I'd ran the whole way. I was afraid if I didn't get away fast enough I'd be tempted to go back. But if this X was serious, which they did sound serious, it was best that we leave for a while. I reached Darien's barn at around four-forty, and found him in cat form perched on a bale of hay in the barn. He jumped off of the bale, Changing back to human form when he saw me outside the barn. Or scented me most likely, because he was a cat then.

"You're the first one here," he said, opening the door for me.

"Really?" I asked, walking past him shyly and sitting down on the bale of hay. I propped my head on my hands, looking out the door. Darien sat down beside me, placing a hand on my arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked with genuine concern. I shivered inwardly.

"Honestly, I'm kind of scared," I mumbled. "I'm really gonna miss my mom. She came to and stopped drinking yesterday."

"That's good," Darien breathed. There was a brief, awkward pause. "Listen, about yesterday, before those cats came…" I held my breath. What was he going to say? I turned to him, waiting for him to continue, but instead of talking he pulled me closer to him and kissed me right on the lips. I nearly fainted right then, but I managed to stay conscious. My head blurred completely, but right then it didn't matter. I placed my hand on his shoulder gently, pressing my lips back against his until he pulled away. I looked bashfully into his eyes, grinning in a dazed sort of way. He smiled back.

Unsure of what to say next, I stammered, "The whole school thought we'd skipped school together yesterday, then they were saying we were dating. I think it was X who started those rumors."

"Technically we _did_ skip school together," he said with a laugh. I laughed too. It was hard not to be swept up in his happiness. I was nervous about how he would address our dating rumor.

Then there came a knock on the barn door, and I spun around to see Miki standing in the doorway. "Oh crap," I muttered under my breath, my face flushing red. "H-how long have you been there?" I asked, noticing her somewhat triumphant grin.

"Don't worry, I covered my eyes," she giggled, covering her eyes with her hand then opening them to look at us.

"Is Jessie here yet?" Darien asked, his voice shaking slightly. I noticed his face was red too, and I almost giggled like Miki.

"He's not here yet," Miki said formally but still smiling. She walked into the barn and dragged another hay bale to face us, which she sat down on. "So, we even sure this RiverClan will except us?" I was thankful she was moving on from what she'd just witnessed.

I looked at Darien, who shrugged and took my hand reassuringly. "If they don't except us, I'm sure one of the other Clans will. I don't know how many there are though."

"I'm pretty sure this plan will work," I boasted.

"Yeah, I'm surprised _you_ came up with it," came Jessie's voice.

"We don't need that kind of behavior," Darien warned Jessie as he casually sat on the bale with Miki. "We're going to be spending some time with each other, and the least we can all do is get along."

"I agree," Miki sniffed, giving Jessie a hard look.

"Alright, jeez," Jessie huffed, crossing his arms.

"We better get going," Darien commented, and we all agreed quietly. Jessie had already Changed and the brown tabby cat was scampering out the door.

"Wait up!" Miki called angrily, Changing into her golden cat form and following close behind.

I got up from the hay bale, but Darien didn't let go of my hand. He stood up and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, resting his head against mine. "What's this for?" I asked with a smile.

"If we're gonna be cats for who knows how long, it'll be a while before I can do this again," he said quietly.

"Well, then there's something else you won't be able to do for a while," I added, leaning over and kissing him softly. This time I didn't slip into semi-consciousness, but my mind still blurred a bit.

"Hurry up!" Miki called impatiently from outside. Darien let me go, and soon both our cat forms were running out the door, out to attempt to join RiverClan.

* * *

ht tp : / / niah - miyoki . deviant art . com / art / Miki - 84291311

Please review! If you do I'll give you a "Cat and Darien 4ever" t-shirt :3 Three different people's reviews and I'll update.


	7. Acceptance

The sun was beginning to set, and without my watch I could only guess that we'd been sitting there, waiting for the patrol, for an hour or so. Miki was starting to whine, Jessie was starting to tease her, and Darien was yelling at both of them. I sat as still as I could, hoping the patrol would come before we all ended up killing each other.

"They said they had this patrol at the same time everyday," Darien commented, looking up at the sun. "They should be here by now."

"My mom's probably got the letter by now," I sighed. I could imagine her panicking, rushing off to dial 911 the second she read the letter. It wouldn't do them any good to look for Catherine the human. Would my mom start drinking again? Would she call my father? I had so many questions that couldn't be answered, and I was starting to loose my mind.

Suddenly, I could smell other cats. Darien pricked his ears up, and Miki stopped talking to listen. "Over here, Blackclaw!" came a tom's meow. The cats jumped out of the reeds, and I could only identify the gray she-cat from yesterday. My fur began to bristle, but I hastily calmed myself.

The other two were male, one large and smokey black and the other jet black. A little gray tom was rushing up after them. "Hurry up, Pouncepaw!" the black cat yelled back at him.

"I'm coming!" he whined, finally reaching the patrol when Mistyfoot began to speak.

"You're that cat from yesterday," Mistyfoot observed, looking at Darien intently. She swept her gaze around at us, her eyes alight. "And who are they?"

"I'm Ca…therine," I mumbled. A cat named Cat would be a bit confusing. Miki and Jessie introduced themselves.

"We were hoping to join your Clan," Darien said urgently, almost pleading.

The smokey black tom hissed. "What, you think we're ThunderClan or something? We don't take in loners at random…"

"Silence, Blackclaw!" Mistyfoot snapped, and Blackclaw shrunk back, glowering. Mistyfoot turned back to us. "You'll have to come back to our camp and speak with Leopardstar."

"Sure," we all agreed quickly. Mistyfoot purred shortly, flicking her tail to signal the other patrol cats to go ahead. Mistyfoot held back and came up to me.

"Your scent is familiar… were you at the lake by horseplace yesterday?"

"No…" I trailed off. "I was probably inside the barn at the time." Mistyfoot nodded and joined her patrol again. Miki was trotting excitedly on my right side, Darien protectively on my left, and Jessie walking sullenly in the back. The patrol kept looking back as we ran through the reeds. An island came up to our right, but the cats turned left, wadding through a small river. Darien swam along expertly, the rest of us a little less gracefully. But we finally made it to the other side of the river. There, we were met by a golden she-cat with black markings.

"Welcome, strangers," she purred with importance. The patrol cats dipped their heads to the cat as they passed, so we all bowed our heads. The cat laughed.

"Are you Leopardstar?" Darien asked.

"I am," she mewed. "And yourself?"

"I'm Darien. This is Catherine, and Miki, and Jessie." He turned to us, flicking his tail in our direction as he said our names. I was still getting used to being called Catherine. Only my mom ever called me that.

"Pleasure to meet you all," Leopardstar said. "Why don't you come into our camp, so we may talk."

"What's there to talk about?" I heard Jessie mutter under his breath, and though Leopardstar looked like she heard him, she ignored it and led us to a large rock, where she leapt up. We all followed suit, landing as well as we could on the small surface. Five cats could hardly fit, but Leopardstar seemed fine.

"Mistyfoot has told me of you," Leopardstar addressed Darien. "She said that you were a formidable fighter."

"She gave me some scratches to remember," Darien muttered modestly.

Leopardstar purred again. I guessed that's how cats laughed. "What is your purpose for this visit?" she asked formally.

"We were hoping to join your Clan," Darien meowed cautiously. No need to tell her we'd be leaving in a week or so anyways.

"I don't think that Blackclaw liked us very much, though," Miki sniffed.

Leopardstar looked serious. "Not all our cats are happy about outsiders coming into the Clan. Our neighbor, ThunderClan, Is practically made up of loners and kittypets, and they've caused a bit of trouble in the past." She looked into the sky nostalgically, then focused on us. "But, I see no reason why you four shouldn't be allowed into our Clan. Allow Mistyfoot to show you around first."

Mistyfoot was already waiting for us at the base of the rock, and took us to meet some of the other cats. There were so many smells, and names. I could hardly remember any of the cats Mistyfoot introduced us to. I remembered Rippletail, a dark tabby tom who seemed friendly enough. The black cat who was with Pouncepaw was named Reedwhisker.

Mistyfoot led us through a rundown of Clan life as we walked. There was so much to learn, I was glad we wouldn't be staying long. She asked us how old we were, saying apprentices were seven moons and older. Moons? I was confused. We decided to pretend we were fourteen moons, which the fourteen part was true, but we were fourteen years. How many moons, er, months, would that be? I don't know, I hate math.

Mistyfoot took us to meet Mothwing, a tawny she-cat, and Willowpaw, a hyper gray she-cat. They were medicine cats, which were like nurses. Willowpaw kept watching us, and it was very unnerving. I was glad to leave the little den to go speak again with Leopardstar.

Leopardstar had called for all the cats to gather by her for a meeting. She announced our arrival, and I became embarrassed when all eyes turned to us. One of the gray toms, I think his name was Pebblepaw or something, gave us what I guess was a cat smile by blinking happily. "These cats will train here as apprentices," Leopardstar continued, and some protests rose from the back, which Leopardstar silenced with a sharp yowl. "Do you wish to keep your names or be given apprentice names?" Leopardstar asked us. We all requested to keep our names. "Very well. Miki, please step forward." Miki did so eagerly, and a few cats chuckled. Or, purred, which is like… ah, whatever.

"You will be mentored by Beechfur." A light brown tom stepped forward. "Beechfur, this is your first apprentice. I trust you will pass on all you know to her." Beechfur murmured a quick "Of course" and touched his nose to Miki's. She looked confused, but Pouncepaw whispered that it was customary.

"Next, Jessie." Jessie stepped up to the front and sat down, seemingly bored. He probably thought this all was pointless. "You will be mentored by Blackclaw."

"You're serious?" Jessie huffed.

"Leopardstar-" Blackclaw began, but Leopardstar continued.

"Blackclaw, you have already mentored Heavystep and Voletooth. I trust you will teach Jessie as well as you taught them." Blackclaw said nothing as he and Jessie reluctantly touched noses.

"Catherine." I stepped forward nervously. "Your mentor shall be Rippletail." I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. I hopped up to Rippletail and touched noses with him. "And lastly, I will mentor Darien," Leopardstar announced. A few cats were surprised, but kept their voices low as Leopardstar and Darien touched noses. Darien looked somewhat confused. "The meeting is over," Leopardstar yowled, and the cats filed out into different dens.

"The apprentice's den is this way," came a voice, and I turned to see the gray tom, Pebblepaw.

"Thanks," I said with a quick nod, signaling to the others where to go. The apprentice's den was decorated with some shells around the edge and a few in the ceiling. It reminded me of the shell I had back home, which made me suddenly homesick. But when I curled up in a bed of moss and Darien curled up beside me, his tail lain on my back reassuringly and his head resting against mine, I felt more at ease and closed my eyes, giving in to sleep.

I dreamed that night; a really weird dream. There was a person, a girl I thought, who Changed into a cat. I couldn't see the cat, but I heard voices from behind me. Human voices. "Run!" the strange cat instructed, and my legs began to move. I was still a cat, but as I ran I had Changed into a human. Everything around me was black. I couldn't see anything, not even the ground I was running on. I couldn't feel any wind or smell anything, or hear a sound. "Mom! Darien!" I called desperately. "Anyone!"

"Cat!" I heard someone call. "Catherine!" I opened my eyes and jolted up, sending moss everywhere. Some of the other apprentices were turning in their mossy beds, muttering words I couldn't hear. I turned to Darien, who had been calling me. His slivery-blue eyes seemed to cut through the darkness. "Are you okay?" he asked in a whisper. "You looked like you were having a bad dream. You were saying something."

"I'm fine," I assured him, but I was still shaking. Someone had been chasing me, and there was no one to help. Who was that girl who had Changed? It wasn't Miki. Was it possible that there was another cat-person out there somewhere?

* * *

I liked them better as people. Wah :( Ah well, here's my lop-sided sketch of Darien.

ht tp : / / niah - miyoki . deviant art . com / art / New - Darien - 84384466


	8. Arrangements

Miki had shaken us all awake urgently at dawn. Jessie was grumbling darkly, Darien was trying to wake up, but I was up and attentive. "What's up?" I asked in a soft mew.

"Do you know what time it is?" Miki asked frantically in a quiet voice.

"Sure, let me check my watch," Jessie mumbled sarcastically.

Miki threw him a glare. "No, I'm expecting a call. I'll tell you on the way if you want to come."

"I'm definitely coming," I responded, and Darien agreed sleepily.

"I'm going back to sleep," Jessie whispered, flipping over in his mossy bed.

So me, Miki and Darien filed out of the apprentice's den and through the dark and silent camp. "Unlike you guys, I've got a lot of siblings," Miki explained once we were out of the camp boundaries and back in human form. I stretched out, glad to be out of the cramped den. Let me tell ya – when I get home I will never complain about sleeping on a spring mattress. My hair was probably a total mess. I would've killed for a hairbrush. "So, naturally, they'd all freak out, right?" she continued. "I told my younger brother Camden a little bit about what was happening, that I'd be leaving for a while. He's gonna call every morning at around dawn to update me on what's happening at school and on the news, anything about us."

"That's genius!" I praised Miki, ruffling her hair. "Good kitty."

"I hid my cell phone back at the barn, and I need to move it to somewhere closer." She pouted slightly. "I probably missed his call."

"No problem, we'll go and get it. But we'd better hurry," he added seriously. We nodded and broke out into a run towards the barn. Darien easily was in the lead, which I didn't mind. I hated running. I wasn't the best P.E. student in class, but I got along. And the run to the barn seemed to take a shorter time than usual. Miki found the phone tucked into some reeds, and picked it up with a sigh.

"One missed call," she announced. "It was Camden." She hurriedly dialed her home number, crossing her fingers. "Yes! Camden, I'm glad you answered," she said into the phone, pacing by the lake's edge. "So, what'd you hear?" There was a pause which seemed to last forever. "Nothing?" Miki asked brightly, and we sighed in relief. "Alright, thank you, talk to ya later. Bye." She closed the phone and put it in her jeans pocket.

"No news is good news," Darien observed humorously.

"Could I call my mom really quick?" I asked suddenly, not even realizing I was saying it.

They both looked at me, and there was a long, thoughtful pause. "Well, sure, I guess," Miki said, handing me the phone, looking to Darien for reassurance.

"Don't tell her anything about where we are," Darien warned gently.

"I know I'm not stupid," I said with a laugh, patting him on the shoulder. I punched in my home phone number with somewhat shaky fingers. I pressed the phone against my ear and held my breath as the ringing started.

"Hello?" My mother's voice came on after one ring, panicked and full of sadness. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. I almost hung up, but decided not to.

"M-Mom," I choked out, suddenly overcome with emotion.

"Catherine!" she nearly screamed. I held the phone away slightly so as not to lose the use of my right ear. "Where are you? Why are you there? Come home please! Tell me what's going on!" Her rapid-fire questions were fuzzy, and I guessed I had bad reception out here.

"I can't answer anything right now Mom," I said softly.

"Is it true?" she asked. "About… you… turning into a cat?"

"Yes, Mom," I said even softer. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"I know, it's alright," My mom answered quickly. "I understand why you didn't tell me." She took a shaky breath. "I miss you. I wish you could come home."

"I do too, but I'll be home soon. I promise."

"Alright," my mom whispered tearfully. Was that another voice I heard? No, it was the echo from the phone, of maybe Darien or Miki.

"Goodbye Mom, I love you."

"Goodbye, Catherine."

I flipped the phone shut and thrust it at Miki, wiping tears from my eyes. She took the phone back and handed me a crumpled tissue, which I accepted gratefully. Darien put his arm around my shoulder comfortingly. "It's alright," he assured me. "We'll all get to go home soon. This X won't be around forever."

"But what if we can't find who X is?" I sobbed. "What if they expose us? We'll be…" I stopped, not wanting to resurrect his painful memories.

"We'll be _fine_," he finished. "If that X doesn't stay away we'll hunt them down."

I didn't see how we'd be able to. My plan was starting to sound stupid. "Alright," I whispered reluctantly, and we headed back for the camp.

Miki hid her phone a little closer to camp, tucked into some full bushes by the lake's shore. By the time the sun was half-way over the horizon we had Changed back into cats and scampered into the camp, running into Rippletail.

"What were you three up to?" he asked with amusement and guarded suspicion.

"Exploring," Darien answered shortly.

"Pretty early for that," Rippletail purred, but he let us go, padding over to a pile of dead critters, like mice and stuff. We met up with Jessie, who was pulling himself to his paws for training with Blackclaw. If Jessie weren't so annoying I'd have felt sorry for him. Miki and Beechfur were off for hunting lessons, and Leopardstar had taken Darien for training as well. I went up to Rippletail, who was happily munching on a dead mouse as though it wasn't the most disgusting thing in the world. "Hungry?" he asked.

"No," I replied quickly, staring at the dead animals in disgust.

"You'll need energy if you want to train today," he cautioned, pushing a dead fish closer to me with his forepaw.

Fish. That wasn't so bad. I sorta liked sushi, so I took a tentative bite. It wasn't all that bad. It certainly wasn't a pizza but it would have to do. Once I'd eaten all the parts that weren't covered in dirt or could look back at me I asked Rippletail what to do with the rest. "Bury it," he said, licking mouse blood off his whiskers casually. I nearly barfed, but ducked my head to pick up the fish remains.

Once the remnants of my disturbing breakfast had been disposed of, Rippletail led me to one of the streams feeding out of the lake which I remembered was called the River Alba. It reminded me of Jessica Alba, so I had to stifle a giggle. He continued on a tour of the lake, calling the Littlepine Sailing Center the "greenleaf twoleg place". He also showed me the Littlepine Island, which they simply called the island. It was where all the Clans gathered every full moon to discuss events and meet with the other Clans.

Then we passed Darien's barn, or the "horseplace", even though there were no more horses. A strange smell came to my nose. I opened my mouth, something I'd seen other cats do, and surprisingly I could smell it better. "What is that?" I asked. "It's kind of… musky."

"It's WindClan," Rippletail informed me. "This is the border. It's been marked recently. In fact…" he opened his mouth thoughtfully. "The patrol should still be here."

As if on cue, two cats appeared from the top of a large mountain. A small black tom and a slightly larger white she-cat. I observed their genders from their smell. Hey, I wasn't a completely clueless cat.

"Who's there?" the younger cat demanded fiercely, and the white she-cat hushed him.

"It's just a patrol," she scolded.

The little cat raced down towards us, forcing the white cat to follow. The black cat narrowed his eyes, as though inspecting me. "You're a loner," he scoffed. "Is RiverClan starting to become effected by ThunderClan's openness to riffraff and kittypets?"

"Breezepaw, silence!" the white cat yowled, and Breezepaw sunk low dejectedly. "I apologize for my apprentice," the cat said to Rippletail.

"It's alright Whitetail," Rippletail answered maturely. "This is my new apprentice, Catherine."

"So she IS a loner," Breezepaw sniffed. "Or worse… a kittypet."

"Silence, Breezepaw!" Whitetail exclaimed exasperatedly. "It doesn't matter where she came from. Firestar was a kittypet himself."

"As if that makes up for anything!" Breezepaw snapped back. "Firestar's just as stupid and lazy as any other kittypet!"

"You will stop this NOW!" Whitetail thundered, unsheathing her claws and baring her fangs in a vicious snarl. I shrunk back. "We'll be leaving," she threw gruffly back as she stalked away, more to Breezepaw than to Rippletail.

"Weird," I commented when the two had left. "Who's Firestar? What's a kittypet?"

"Kittypets are cats who live with twolegs as pets," Rippletail explained. "Firestar was once a kittypet, but he joined the forest as an apprentice of ThunderClan. Now he is their leader."

"Neat," I breathed, smiling to myself. So, a pet cat joined these Clans and became a leader. Funny how things worked sometimes. But by Breezepaw's obvious lack of respect I imagined some full-bred Clan cats would be mad to be led by a kittypet.

"Would you like to look at the island?" Rippletail offered. "The next Gathering won't be for another quarter-moon, so you may as well get a little tour before you go."

"Sure!" I mewed. "That'd be really cool!" I hadn't really noticed the island when I was at Darien's house. Now I was eager to look. I hastily scrabbled up the fallen log bridge, sinking my claws into the mossy wood to keep myself balanced. My paw slipped, and with a little yowl of surprise I fell into the shallow water below. The cold in the early morning really woke me up, and I splashed over to the shore.

"Are you okay?" Rippletail asked, concerned. He flicked his tail nervously.

I shook myself dry, sheets of water flying off my orange fur. "Yeah, I'm okay, just really cold."

"Let's get back to the camp," he offered. "You can get dry."

"Alright," I stammered, shivering. The nearly-eighty degree weather wasn't as nice as it should've been all drenched in lake water. "So, how many Clans are there?" I asked as we walked through the reeds.

"Four," Rippletail answered. "There's RiverClan, WindClan, ThunderClan and ShadowClan."

"ShadowClan doesn't sound very friendly," I commented.

Rippletail purred, blinking his eyes in some kind of cat smile. "For the most part ShadowClan cats aren't very friendly. They're incredibly prideful , but they haven't got the power to back up their boasts."

"So, who are all the leaders? I mean, I know Leopardstar and Firestar, but what about the other two?"

"The leader of WindClan is Onestar, who used to be Onewhisker," Rippletail began, stopping to talk. "And ShadowClan is led by Blackstar, who was once Blackfoot. As you may have guessed, his paws are black. The rest of him is white. Onestar is a brown tabby tom, and Firestar is-"

"Orange?" I finished with a purr.

"Correct," Rippletail purred.

We continued on to the camp, Rippletail filling me in on the rest of Clan leaders history. He mostly spoke about Firestar and the old ShadowClan leader, Tigerstar. He spoke about Crookedstar, the leader before Leopardstar, then Leopardfur. He even told me a bit about Crookedstar's daughter, Silverstream, who had died while giving birth to a ThunderClan tom's kits, Graystripe. His son Stormfur was in ThunderClan with his mate Brook from some mountain Tribe, and his daughter Feathertail had died in the mountains. He promised to tell me about some "Great Journey" later.

"You'd better find someone to share tongues with if you want to get clean," he commented once we'd reached camp.

I turned to him, my mouth wide open and my eyes bulging. "WHAT?!" I yelped, drawing the attention of some cats lounging around.

"What, sharing tongues?" he asked, blinking innocently. "You don't know what that is, do you?"

To me it sounded like that French-kissing stuff, but I mumbled "No."

He purred and blink-smiled again. "It's just when cats groom each other. It's also a time when cats talk as well. It helps bind the Clan together."

"Oh…" I muttered with understanding. Now I felt extremely stupid. "Well, I think I'll pass on that, anyway… my _fur_ dries better naturally."

"Alright," Rippletail said, then started to walk off. "We'll do battle training at sunhigh. When the sun is highest in the sky," he added over his shoulder.

Darien and Leopardstar appeared from the bushes, lots of mice and birds in their jaws. "He hunts very well," Leopardstar said to me once she'd dropped her catch on the pile, which I guessed is where all the food went. Darien shrugged modestly.

"Darien's a really good hunter," I agreed, trying out the blink-smile and purr thing, which seemed to work. I couldn't help turning up the corners of my mouth.

"I've had practice," Darien said to me once Leopardstar had gone off to her den. "How was your outing, anyway? You're soaking wet."

"Really, I hadn't noticed," I laughed. "I fell into the lake."

"Smooth move," Darien purred. Just then the gray apprentice Pebblepaw bounced over. "Hello Darien, Catherine," he meowed happily. "Hey Catherine, do you want to hunt with me?"

"Catherine doesn't know how to hunt yet," Rippletail said from behind me, but I bristled defiantly.

"I could try at least!" I sniffed, and Darien laughed.

"I'd like to see that," Darien purred. "Maybe another time you and I can go hunting, and I'll show you how it's done."

"I'd love to," I replied earnestly. "How about tomorrow, then?"

"It's a date," he replied, winking. I purred. How strange that on my first official date with him we'd be cats, and killing mice to eat. Um…ew. But at least it was a date.

"Sorry Pebblepaw, we can go now," I said to the little gray apprentice. "Maybe you can show me a few things about hunting so I can kick Darien's butt," I added with a purr. Pebblepaw purred in agreement, and we headed for the river to hunt.

* * *

ht tp : / / niah - miyoki . deviant art . com / art / Darien - Concept - Sketch - 85034929

My teeth ache. Just got back from ortho-checkup-braces-tightening thing. Also, my throat hurts.


	9. Instincts

The forest was alive with sounds and smells I'd never experienced before. The little patch of trees was so packed with them I thought my head would explode. The ground underneath was sandy and damp, with lush underbrush and small trees growing far from each other to let in all the morning light. Pebblepaw caught a few mice right off the bat, giving me a few pointers while I failed miserably. "You sure know a lot," I commented resentfully. I guess I was just no good as a cat. I couldn't wait to get back home.

Pebblepaw purred. "I'm still learning," he replied modestly. He reminded me a bit of Darien. Maybe they were related. I laughed at the thought, and Pebblepaw looked at me, confused.

"I don't mean any offense, but you sure are very different from us," he mewed. "What was life like where you came from? The barn, right?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah… well, it was just us four, and those two other cats kept popping up every now and again. Darien was always the one who fought them off, and hunted, so I haven't gotten much training." It was all fairly true.

Pebblepaw cocked his head. "Are you and Darien mates?"

"What?!" I yowled, falling over backwards. "No way! We're too young."

Looking even more confused, Pebblepaw answered, "You're both fourteen moons old. And you've known each other for a long time, I'd suppose."

"Not really," I mumbled. "But, I don't want to talk about it," I added hastily when I saw the questioning look in his blue eyes.

"I understand," was all Pebblepaw said. "Anyway, let's see if you're any better at fishing." He led me to one of the streams that cradled the RiverClan camp. It was small and clear, making peaceful gurgling noises as it drew water away from some unknown source to the lake. The pebble covered ground was smooth and slippery, and on numerous occasions I nearly fell in. When I finally did fall in 

reaching for a fish it reminded me of the day I'd spent with Darien by the lake. I wasn't sure why, but I began to miss him, even though I knew he wasn't very far away. "You're missing the fish!" Pebblepaw meowed, and I woke up from my absent state. I slammed my paw into the water on reflex, sending a great spray out and soaking me and Pebblepaw. Although, I was already soaked. I felt a weird squirming under my paw and I realized I had pinned a fish down to the riverbed. I tried dragging it out, poking my claws into its side gently until it was out and flopping around on the shore.

I started laughing, wishing Darien had been there to see that. "I caught it!" I announced, though Pebblepaw was right there beside me.

"Good job!" he purred, shaking the water off his pelt with a quick jolt. I picked the fish up gingerly with my mouth, the force of its wobbling jerking my head around and making me lose my balance. "You'd be better off if you killed it," Pebblepaw said. The thought was absolutely disgusting. Kill it? With my teeth? EW! Its blood would get all in my mouth… I gagged and spit the fish out. It flopped limply a few more times, then stopped.

"Oh, I guess that works." I picked the dead fish up again and we trotted back to the place where Pebblepaw had buried his mice. We stopped when we heard a sound coming from the bushes. A bird! A crow perked its head up and swiveled its head to stare at us with one pitch black eye. I instinctively dropped to a crouch and leapt forward, claws outstretched and catching it between my paws. When I had it pinned to the ground I got back to my senses. "Hey… what…?"

"Amazing catch!" Pebblepaw exclaimed, and I looked down at the bird under my paws. Its head was at a weird angle and it wasn't moving.

"I killed it!" I screamed, stumbling away. Pebblepaw stared at me as I stampeded around, lamenting over the dead bird. If I hadn't been a cat I'd have been crying. "It's dead! I killed it! OH MY GOSH I killed it!"

"Catherine, it's prey. You're supposed to kill it." I flicked my ears in Pebblepaw's direction and steadied my ragged breathing. He was purring uncontrollably in cat-laughter.

"Stop that, it's not funny!" I huffed.

"I thought it was," came a familiar voice. I turned to see Jessie striding over towards us.

"Oh, you're finally up," I sighed, looking away pointedly. "Aren't you supposed to be training with Blackclaw?"

Jessie hissed. "I'll train when I feel like it," he mewed.

"Blackclaw will rip your tail off if you tell him that," Pebblepaw said, his eyes wide. Jessie looked unnerved for a moment, then turned and grumbled as he stalked back into the camp. We followed him, carrying our fresh-kill proudly. It's difficult to carry a fish and a crow in your mouth while trying not to barf or pass out.

"Excellent work, Catherine!" Rippletail purred as I passed by him. "Did Pebblepaw teach you how to do that?"

"No, this was all kinda by accident," I stuttered.

"She's just being modest," Pebblepaw piped in as he headed off to the elder's den, probably to change the bedding.

"How about you bring that fish to the queen's den?" Rippletail suggested. "Then you can have that crow."

My ears dropped. "Uh, I'll just look for another fish," I mumbled, looking at the crow's sightless eyes. I kicked it gently over to the fresh-kill pile, noting with satisfaction that there were two fish still there. I'd have one when I got back. Lifting the fish up, I trekked over to the queen's den. Dawnflower was the only queen there, and a relatively new one at that. Her belly was only just starting to bulge. As I gave her the fish and accepted her thanks, I wondered which cat was the father. I thought about how confused Pebblepaw was when I told him I was too young to take a mate. How old was Dawnflower? Cats didn't live nearly as long as humans, so they'd never understand.

"Hey!" I saw Mosspelt, Pebblepaw's mentor, taking a fish from the fresh-kill, which was now the last one. My tail flopped to the ground until I heard Darien's call from behind me. He was sitting on a rock, the other fish laying beside him. I glided over happily, leaping onto the rock. "You wanna share?" he asked, I nodded, taking a quick bite. I hadn't realized how hungry I was. Darien licked one of his paws and drew it over his ear. "How was the hunting?"

"Ok, I guess," I laughed. "You shoulda been there when I caught that fish."

"I'll get to see you catch another one tomorrow, right?" he prompted, lifting the corner of his muzzle in a smile.

"Of course," I purred, licking him on the cheek. Wait. My eyes bulged when I realized what I'd done. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! My cat instincts…" I began babbling frantically.

"It's alright!" Darien said, shushing me by putting his tail over my mouth. "Yes, I understand, no need to make a scene." I nodded, my pelt on fire. I felt so stupid, and now all the cats were staring at us. I tried to stay calm and take another bite of the fish, staring intently at my quivering orange paws.

"Sorry," I muttered, quietly.

"It's alright," he repeated. He sounded annoyed. Oh no, had I made him angry? Without another word I bounded off the rock, making my silent way out of the camp boundaries. I could feel Darien's deep blue eyes on me until I was out of sight. When I was sure I was far away from the camp, I Changed back into my human form.

"I can't do this anymore," I whined to myself. "I want everything to go back to normal."

"Nothing will ever be normal," came a weary voice. It took me a while to realize it was in cat-tongue. I turned to see a tawny she-cat perched on a small rock by the lake. She reminded me of 

another cat I'd seen, but this one sounded older. And familiar, like I'd heard her voice before. She wasn't from RiverClan, so who was she?

"Are you talking to me?" I asked. "Can you understand me?" But the cat jolted away into the reeds, and I couldn't keep up. She had disappeared. My heart rate quickened. Was this the other cat-person from my dreams? Who was she? I had to find out. Then I heard Darien's human voice calling my name. My cheeks reddened. He had followed me after all!

I ran up to meet him just beyond the reeds and hurriedly explained my dream and the cat I'd just met. He didn't regard any of it. "Please don't run off like that again," he said softly, hugging me loosely. "I was worried."

"I'm sorry, I'm fine," I replied, dazed.

"That's good," Darien commented, smiling his crooked smile. "Now, I think we should get back to the camp. They'll get suspicious if we keep leaving so often."

"Right," I replied, grinning, and we Changed back and dashed into camp again, meeting up with Miki and Jessie and talking while the sun rose to the center of the sky.

AN: Woo, short chapter.


End file.
